Henning Mankell, Swedish crime writer, dies aged 67

The Swedish crime writer behind the Wallander series, Henning Mankell, died on Sunday after suffering from cancer. He was 67.

Mankell was a leading figure in the Nordic Noir genre after creating his most famous character, Swedish police inspector Kurt Wallander, whom he based a series of novels between 1991 and 2009.

Wallander solved crimes across the world, and the literary series achieved further recognition when it was turned into a TV series, Wallander in 2005 and again for the UK in 2008, starring Kenneth Branagh.

"Henning Mankell was one of the great Swedish authors of our time, loved by readers in Sweden and all over the world. His work includes around 40 novels and numerous plays. His books have sold more than 40 million copies and are translated into more than 40 languages.

Wallender first came to life in his 1989 novel Faceless Killers, after Mankell found the name by flipping through a telephone directory. The detective was diabetic, and the opposite of the suave and glamourous detectives found in other crime fiction.

Mankell told The Telegraph in 2011 that he gave Wallender diabetes, which made him more popular as a character. "You could never imagine James Bond giving himself a shot of insulin, but with Wallander it seemed perfectly natural," he said.

Mankell is survived by his wife, Swedish director and dramatist Eva Bergman, and son Jon Mankell.